Cinnamon Crumb Banana Muffins

These muffins are bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-as. I’m fairly certain if you read any of my previous banana recipes, they all start off the same way. Is anyone else surprised that January is almost over and it feels like we just celebrated the holidays? I’ve been baking up a storm this month, but trying to play catch up on the blog, and prioritizing my healthy-ish recipes this month while everyone is still sticking to their resolutions as best they can. Don’t you worry, I’ve already got a few chock-full-0f-chocolate recipes coming your way just in time for Valentines Day. But sticking on the healthier side, I had a few overripe bananas looking to be used, so whipped up a variation on my favorite banana muffins and topped them with a heaping serving of crumb topping. It’s like portion-controlled banana bread in an easy to eat-on-the-go muffin form.

I had high hopes of testing out lots of healthy recipes to share with you this month, but let’s be real, this blog is called The Salted Cookie and not I Love Me Some Quinoa for a reason. Are oversized muffins with crumb topping healthy? Who knows. But if you were faced with one of these home-baked muffins or a slice of Entemann’s Coffee Cake, I think these are the better choice. Ipso Facto, healthy muffins.

I’ve become a big fan of these jumbo muffin tins, and not sure that I’ll ever go back to regular 12-muffin size tins. I like bakery style muffins, and these jumbo muffin tins also tend to all bake evenly no matter how I have the tray placed in the oven. If you have more than 3 ripe bananas begging to be used, you can add in an extra banana to the batter by slicing it up and slowly folding it in with a spatula. That will make these muffins even moister (everyone’s favorite word, but it’s true … these muffins are dang moist). If you had some blueberries that needed to be used, you could definitely incorporate 3/4 of a cup of blueberries into the batter for an extra fruity punch.

I like to eat my muffin in two phases: the top first, and then the rest. I love a good muffin top. My jeans don’t, but the rest of me does. (that’s a muffin joke, if you didn’t pick up on it). I prefer muffins straight from the oven, so if I’m going to enjoy a muffin the day after I’ve baked them, I like to slice them in half, toast them (while trying not to burn them), and then slather them in some butter. I am my mother’s daughter with my love of butter. But as Paula Dean says, everything’s better with butter.

If you really want to enhance the flavor of these muffins, be sure to use King Arthur Flour’s Vietnamese Cinnamon. A little goes a long way, but this cinnamon is so flavorful it’s a real game changer in baking! So the next time you find yourself with a bunch of overripe bananas, whip up a batch of these Cinnamon Crumb Banana Muffins and start your day off in the most delicious way possible. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Crumb Banana Muffins

Bursting with bananas and topped with a delicious cinnamon crumb topping, these muffins are the perfect way to start your day.

Ingredients:

Muffins

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons melted butter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumb Topping

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 6 to 8 jumbo muffin tins with paper liners and spray lightly with non-stick spray. Set aside.

To make the crumb topping, combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour in a large bowl. Use either a pastry blender or two forks to combine the ingredients until the mixture is coarse and the dough looks like pea-sized crumbles. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine mashed bananas, egg and vanilla with a wooden spoon. Slowly mix in the granulated sugar and melted butter.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet batter and mix with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Fill the jumbo muffin tins evenly about 3/4 of the way, or a little less. Top each with equal amounts of the crumb topping mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-22 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Let the muffins cool for a few minutes before transferring to a serving dish. Enjoy these warm with some butter or room temperature the next day. Enjoy!